


I Spy

by forestofsecrets



Series: Birds of a Feather [4]
Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Ai sorting through video footage, Comedy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 06:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21351901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forestofsecrets/pseuds/forestofsecrets
Summary: Ai sets up a camera to watch his bird feeder over a week. It catches things other than the birds.
Series: Birds of a Feather [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1513085
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	I Spy

**Author's Note:**

> I am loving how many ways "I" and "Ai" can be used as a joke. Anyways, this is the fourth part of this series. The next part will be the last one. It snowed for the first time today where I am and it is very pretty so I wrote this! It took me about an hour.
> 
> Fire Emblem Heroes update: I want the Aether Resort expanded again to add more heroes in there. I keep all my +10 heroes there and I just used up the last slot with F!Takumi.
> 
> Made on 11/07/2019.

The snow made Ai return later than usual to his room.

It was one of the first snowfalls of the season. Enough snow had dropped to last through the entire day, though it melted enough to cause puddles on the walkways outside. Ai had to choose his way carefully or end up with boots full of water. While it wasn’t the first snowfall, that had happened a few days ago, it would be a few more before he got used to it again for the season.

He was, admittedly, a little excited to open his laptop. A week had passed since he set up his camera at The Tweeter. He decided a week would be long enough to catch any activity. It would be easy to set the video to fast forward while he nestled himself in some blankets. Not that he was cold either, but he saw Syo do it earlier.

So, with his blankets around him and a cup of tea, Ai tapped the keyboard to let the video play. He had set it up inside so the weather wouldn’t mess with the camera. As a result, he had a rather wide shot. The bird feeder was slightly off centre but he got nearly all of the grassy area behind it. The tree was entirely visible. The covered walkways under the buildings were fuzzy in the background but that was no of consequence.

The first few days passed rather uneventfully. Before the snow fell, the leaves did. They were blown off and scattered about, blowing in and out of frame. Birds came infrequently, most of the recorded video was set to double or triple speed to get through it.

Ai was always able to identify STARISH whenever they passed, which was regularly. They were a colourful group, literally and figuratively. He could always spot his own juniors; their blond hair and height were dead giveaways. 

(When they shared a room, Ai watched them sleep often. It was for his research, of course, but it also meant he stared at them through the night. So, it was obvious why he could tell their exact shades of hair from far away. He may also have taken samples? Not that they needed to know.)

There was a notable change once the snow fell. The visuals, for instance, lit up the screen. The first snow came through the night and Ai was able to watch it build until morning. The gray sky never went away that day, the clouds still heavy with unshed precipitation. The figures of the birds blended into the background and the people became more prominent. This video was supposed to be for the birds and yet, Ai was drawn to the distractions, as they were, in the background.

The behaviours of people changed once they snow fell. The white flakes ignited child-like wonder in all those who passed outside. From kicking it up to throwing snowballs, it seemed to Ai like every person just had to disturb it somehow. On the left side of the screen, Ai watched Ren make a snowman. He had slowed the video down from triple speed to double to watch the snowballs get rolled around and stacked. A scarf was loosely wrapped around its neck and some kind of rock was used for eyes.

Sipping his tea, Ai could only watch as Ren wiped his hands on his pants, no doubt freezing, and walk away from his creation. The snowman would stay in the background of his video for the rest of the duration.

It wasn’t the last time members of the seven-man group would appear either. The video would catch Tokiya, nose buried in a book, nearly slip on ice hidden beneath the snow. He wobbled, arms shooting out to balance himself but didn’t fall. He would carry on a little more carefully until he was out of view.

Then there was whatever Cecil and Camus were doing. From what Ai could see, and he had to bring himself closer and squint at the screen, Camus had acquired some sort of sled that Cecil had to pull him on. The resolution of the video wasn’t bad by any means but the absolute absurdity of it had Ai second guessing what his eyes were telling him. Cecil’s mouth was continuously moving, no doubt letting Camus in on exactly what he was thinking as he pulled. The duo eventually slid out of frame, Camus sitting smugly on the sled.

The next day passed without incident. The activity at the feeder itself had dropped when the snow did. Ai didn’t quite know why but wrote it down anyways.

Ai didn’t think about what could happen if the camera caught something that it wasn’t supposed to see. It wasn’t like he was hiding it from anyone but he didn’t bother to inform anyone that he had set it up either. So, perhaps, in a way, it was only a matter of time before it caught something secret.

It came in the form of two people, blurred from the low light of evening. It almost looked like the two were fighting, Ranmaru’s juniors were always bickering, until one pushed the other up against the trunk of the tree that The Tweeter was attached to. The feeder rocked in the air slightly, snow slipping off the angled roof. Any suspicion of an altercation quickly faded when their mouths met. Ai looked away with a feeling in his chest that he couldn’t name.

With his tea nearly gone, Ai kept the video on triple speed. He only had one more day to go through and while the video had certainly been enlightening about some things, he wavered on if he wanted to continue it.

A flash of a familiar shade of blond entered the frame. Ai slowed the video down, reaching out from his cocoon of blankets to tap the key. It was Natsuki, standing before the feeder. He spoke to the visitors at it, holding out his hands for the birds to land on his palms. It reminded Ai of exactly why he had started this entire endeavour in the first place. Closing his laptop, having seen enough of the video, he fished his phone out of a pocket.

He had to talk to Natsuki.

**Author's Note:**

> Tagging this was more of a pain than usual. Most characters are only mentioned or have a few lines written about them but I tagged them all anyways. The couple, however, I didn't tag cause I wasn't the main focus. It was Masa and Ren, by the way.


End file.
